49

Smoke followed me up to the second floor, drifting up the stairs like a growing fog. My eyes watered and my throat felt raw as I reached the top of the stairs, my sword and shield heavy in my arms. Wisps of smoke crept up from between the floorboards as the ground floor beneath me continued to burn. How long until the floor collapsed? Ten minutes? Maybe only five?

Falx stood with his back to me, facing one of the windows. I had made no effort to be quiet, so he knew I was there. He was dressed in the same black trousers and red silk shirt I had seen him in last time, and a heavy fur cloak was slung over a nearby chair. A sword scabbard hung at his side.

"It's over, Falx," I said when he did not turn to face me. The heat from the rising fire made the entire building seem like the inside of an oven. It was sweltering, my whole body felt slick with sweat and grime.

He quickly turned and stared at me in disbelief. Of course, he had known that someone had come for him, but he hadn't known it was me.

"Sasha?" he asked in amazement. "How could you …?"

"What?" I asked. "Did you think I would die out in the cold? I'm a Nord. I was born in a snowstorm, I feel right at home in the snow."

Falx laughed humorlessly, his smile another false mask. "And I suppose Carnius is no longer with us?"

"I'm afraid that I had to kill him."

"Oh, that's a pity. Have you thought about my offer?" he asked awkwardly, his hand reaching down for the handle of his sword. "It's still open to you. We can leave here, just you and I, we can get away and start over somewhere else."

I just shook my head. I could hear the floorboards creaking and splintering under my feet, the fire coming closer. "It's too late for that, I'm afraid," I said, stepping towards him. "But I'll make you an offer. Think hard on it. The Legion is waiting outside for you. Drop your sword and surrender and I'll let you live."

He smiled maniacally, sweat dripping down his face, his hand closing on the sword handle. "What is my other option?"

"Then I'll kill you right now. But I'll have to be quick about it, because we don't have much time."

"You're right about that," Falx said.

He drew his blade in one short swing of his arm and came at me with a sideways swipe, his long black hair whipping around his face. I raised my shield, blocked his strike, and braced myself before lunging forward and slamming my sword against his, the clang of metal on metal ringing in my ears. Falx pivoted and struck twice, his thrusts fast and accurate, but I batted them aside and held my ground. He was only testing me.

Smoke filled the room, billowing up from the stairs, and the entire building seemed to creak unsteadily around us. When the floor creaked threateningly, Falx backed up in a panic, looking to his left and right as if in search of a way out.

But I didn't care about the fire. I didn't care about the Legion. I didn't really care much if I even lived or died right now. Instead, I poured my anger and my fear and my hate into my sword arm and directed it at my opponent, slashing my sword down and down again, forcing him on the defensive. I knew what the battle rage felt like, but this was not the same.

I hated Falx for what he had done. Not just the breaking of his oath and the death of his comrades, for that alone he deserved to die. And not just for his lies and his betrayals, or for his selfishness and his greed. He deserved my scorn and my disgust for those actions.

But I hated him for something deeper, something more personal. I realized that my actions were born from my own selfishness, and not for some more honorable motive. I didn't hate him for lying and stealing and killing the men he was sword to protect.

I hated him because I had loved him once. I hated him because I felt like a fool for believing in him.

We traded blows, our swords ringing out, circling each other warily in the cramped confines of the office. Falx kicked a table out of the way to make more room, and when it struck the floor, burning embers burst from the weakened floorboards. The smoke was so thick now that it became hard to breathe, and the heat felt like it was cooking us alive. Both of us painfully panted for breath, our strikes and blocks becoming slower and weaker each passing moment. Sweat rolled down my face like a torrent, and the bottom of my sword hilt dripped with sweat from my hand.

But I would not stop, I kept pressing him back, hoping he would see reason and drop his sword. Instead, he seemed intent on making me kill him.

"It's not too late," I gasped.

"It was always too late," Falx said, and I couldn't tell if the drips down his cheeks were sweat or tears.

With a booming crash and a tremendous surge of flames, the center of the floor collapsed into a swirling maelstrom of flames and smoke. A tower of fire erupted like a volcano, and fire swept across the floors and up the walls. The heat smashed into me like a physical force and threw me backward against the windows. For a brief second, I felt the cold night air at my back, but then I was enveloped in burning heat once more as I crumpled weakly to the floor, enveloped in a swirling cloud of black smoke. As the fire ate through the rest of the building, the floor crumbled and trembled underneath me, and I knew that I had only seconds left.

Through the blinding haze of smoke and burning embers, I could see Falx standing over me, his arms slack at his sides, his sword point touching the floor.

"I did not want this," he said, his voice muffled from the roar of the flames. "I wish things could have been different, I hope you believe that. Maybe if I had met you months ago, none of this would have happened. You were the only good thing I ever knew on this damned island."

I fumbled with the sword at my side, almost too tired to lift it. With a quick swipe of his own blade, he knocked it from my hand and it clattered away into the flames.

"I'm not letting you escape," I spat. "So go ahead and kill me."

"No," Falx said. "You know I can't do that. But I'm not going to let them take me away in chains."

He dropped his sword and slowly turned away. I struggled to my feet as Falx walked toward the blazing inferno, walking to his death.

"No!" I screamed, and leaped after him. I slammed into him and both of us fell to the floor, which felt hot enough to burn my skin. Falx struggled weakly, but I punched him as hard as I could manage, stunning him.

"No," I wheezed, feeling lightheaded. "No, I'm not letting you escape that way. You're coming with me!"

I don't know how I managed to pull him to his feet, but whatever final reserves of strength I had were now exhausted. I stumbled to the open window, pulling him with me, and then shoved him with with both hands, pushing him right out the window. His body went limp and he fell like a sack of grain.

I slumped against the wall and then climbed up myself, dizzy and breathless, as the rest of the floor finally gave way under me, descending down into the raging fire below. The entire mining office seemed to cave in on itself into a glowing pit of fire. I teetered on the windowsill momentarily, and then a wave of fire swept up, throwing me out into the night air.

I was unconscious before I even hit the ground.